Friday, May 11, 2012

La Pita - Still working, 5 years later

A few months ago, El Porvenir had the opportunity to visit La Pita, Terrabona. In 2007, thanks to our supporters at Create Good Foundation and Global Water, El Porvenir worked with the community as they built their gravity flow water system and household latrines. We wanted to go back and see how things were holding up five years later. (This story was also featured in more detail in our recent newsletter.)

Staff interviewed Victoria Hernández in her one room brick home. She told El Porvenir how life was before they had water and latrines in their homes. Victoria used to walk 2km (1.25 miles) to a creek to collect water to carry home. They used to wait in line for some time and the water was contaminated, often by the community members themselves, as they did not have sanitation facilities. The contamination led to illness, usually diarrhea and/or parasites.

"I had two miscarriages
because I had to carry water from far away, carrying one bucket on my head and
one on my hip. Many children got sick during that time; some died." - Victoria Hernández

Victoria proudly shows off the water spigot in her yard.

Now, things are much different. Victoria has water just outside her door and a latrine nearby. The families are healthly, the women have more time available and their lives are improved. Victoria's husband works as a day laborer and Victoria had time now to open a small store in their home. The family earns $6/day—much higher than the average of rural Nicaraguans:
$1-2/day.

"We have more savings because we don’t have to spend
our money on medicine." - Victoria Hernández

Victoria also happens to be the Treasurer on the local Potable Water Committee. She collects all the families monthly fees and reports back to the community and their collective maintenance fund. She reported to El Porvenir that the committee has c$12,000 saved (about $520US).

Victoria shows us how she washes at her house.

"We thank the donors that supported us in the latrine
and water system projects. Always we
will care for it; we will not let it fail." - Victoria Hernández

People like Victoria are what inspire us to continue our work to provide clean water and sanition to people in Nicaragua. We are working towards long lasting solutions that empower the people we work with. There is more to be done, can you help? Consider a gift to Rob's birthday.